This invention relates generally to the art of steel guitars and more particularly to steel guitars having strings mounted on levers of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,943 to Lashley.
The Lashley patent discloses a steel guitar wherein strings are attached to levers located at opposite ends of the guitar. The strings extend over rounded portions of the levers at the levers' pivots. The levers are pivoted by pedals to control the tensions of the strings while they are being played. The strings are attached to levers located at one end of the instrument by means of followers which are mounted on screws for movement longitudinal of the levers. The screws are rotated to move the followers and tune their attached strings. Lashley does not use conventional tuning pegs because his string-mounting levers do not allow sufficient room to conveniently mount tuning pegs on them in the normal manner.
Although Lashley's steel guitar has many advantages over conventional steel guitars, it has a significant disadvantage in that a special tool must be used to rotate the screws for tuning the strings. This is a great disadvantage in that musicians often must tune their instruments while performing and do not have time to reach for a tool in order to accomplish such tuning.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a steel guitar having lever mounted strings wherein the strings thereof are mounted on the levers by tuning pegs which can be quickly hand gripped and rotated for tuning. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a steel guitar that is uncomplicated in structure and not unduly expensive to manufacture.
Another difficulty with Lashley's steel guitar is that the ranges of movement of its string mounting levers, and the linkages to the levers, are relatively difficult to adjust. It is therefore yet another object of this invention to provide appropriate mechanisms for selectively controlling the ranges of movement of levers in a steel guitar of the type described above.